The Trouble With Spheres
by The Threat
Summary: Magiranger .Going on with the cliffhanger ending of my earlier story, 'A Halloween Present', this one will have old enemy to show once again.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: based on characters owned by Toei Company and Saban entertainment. The character "Sutokeru" is mine.

* * *

Looking out into the space around him, he saw nothing that would hint him as to how he could escape from this realm he was in at that moment. He saw clouds, forming themselves into all kinds of shapes and sizes, but nothing coherent. At least, not until he noticed that some of them tried to assume human forms. It got him to wonder what's really happening. Why would these clouds take human forms? For that matter, why are these clouds anything but white or grey? They had many different colors, like red, blue, black, brown, green, all in various hues even.

At one point, he couldn't be sure, but he would swear that one some of the clouds had managed to form something, but couldn't hold on for too long. He tried to run to the very space where that happened. The only resulting from this, was him almost literally catching air. Not only that, he had the impression that the surrounding area was shaking. It's like this realm was unstable, and could fall apart depending on his moves. But if this realm could break apart, what would that mean for him? Would he seize to exist when that happens? Or would he be free? Or at least free from this realm, only to end up somewhere else.

While he was thinking that, he noticed more clouds have taken forms. These forms, of which there were six, at first glance, had something familiar about them. For one, they looked like these foot soldiers that he had fought before, along with other people like him, for another, their appearance started to resemble those aforementioned other people. One of them more than the other five, as this one appeared to be an exact copy, with armor, shield and everything. Except that this one had a purple color, rather than a red one. He didn't know what these things were, but he couldn't take his chances with them. Even if he seizes to exist when this realm falls apart, he would at least be taking these six with him. He ran to them, but they had already disappeared. That's when the face that he saw before showed itself again. It laughed very loud, before it started to speak.

"It's no use, Matt!" it said, "You will stay here and watch, while my Darkrangers fight your friends!"

After the face said that, a smile crept upon the one addressed's face: "I thought you'd be smart enough to know they're not friends."

"Oh?" the face questioned, "And what about her?"

He could only think of one person that the face could've meant. The face also pointed towards something, to which he turned, and saw his girlfriend, or at least some kind of projection of hers.

"I have taken her from you before, I can do it again." the face continued, after which it disappeared.

He wanted to say something to the face, but he knew that it was futile. Meanwhile, these other things, these Darkrangers as he called them, were gone. If only there something else that he could do. He searched for his pockets, but found nothing he could use. He was completely helpless.


	2. Chapter 2

At the Ozu-residence, all was quiet. Too quiet maybe, for this anything but ordinary family. Each and everyone of them had something on their mind, as though there last victory wasn't something they should be celebrating.

"What should we do now?" Makito wondered, "I mean, we're supposed to keep our being magicians a secret, but now... I mean, after what Zedd did,..."

"The effects of what he gave Erico-tachi should be wearing off." Tsubasa assured him, "But... we don't know what he's told them, or anything about it's after-effects. It's possible they don't remember a thing, or only flashes."

"That's re-assuring." Makito sounded dry.

"With Zedd gone, you'd think they'd be celebrating, nyau?" Smokey whispered to Mandora-boy.

"Not even Houka is that cheerful. That can't be right." Mandora-boy replied.

"Which reminds me." Urara suddenly remembered, "Last time, Yamazaki-san seemed to know you're a magician, Kai-chan."

"I didn't tell her." Kai insisted.

"It's a rule to not tell anyone." Isamu reminded them, "But we can't help it if someone found out for themselves."

"In which case, if Zedd told her about you, he didn't tell her what she didn't already know." Hikaru sounded confident.

"But what about Sutokeru?" Houka decided to say something, "Doesn't anyone care about what's happening to him?"

"With how he keeps treating us?" Kai remarked, "Why should we?"

"Maybe not him." Tsubasa then started, "But Ginny won't leave his side, won't eat or sleep, she would die if something doesn't happen fast."

"In other words, to help her, we must help him?" Makito wondered.

"Pretty much." Tsubasa answered.

"The only problem, we still don't know what's wrong with him." Miyuki reminded them.

"I know that defeating Zedd would have him killed." Isamu remembered, "And although Zedd's gone, Sutokeru is still alive, but in a sort of coma."

"This is a unique case, even for magic's standards." Hikaru mentioned.

In an upstairs room, where the very people they were talking about. The one lying in bed, in a coma, called Sutokeru, whose mind, unbeknown to the others, is stuck inside the realm of Zedd's sphere. Next to the bed, is Ginny, who started to look different from last time she was seen. Her hair had started to look more whitish and her skin paler, but now that she's been seeing more light ever since, all the color started to return, including the color of the circles that appeared around her eyes. In the palm of her right hand, she had a pentagram burned into it's skin. Last time she saw him, before he helped her, he had shown that he too had that same thing burned in the palm of his hand. When those hands touched each other, it somehow disconnected her from the beast that housed inside of her. With her burned hand holding his, she hoped that something like that would help again, but nothing happened so far. She hoped that talking would somehow help.

"Matt..." she began, tears running from her eyes, "I... remember the first time we ever met? I... I wasn't quite myself at the time. I remember... somehow, when that Ze... thing, kept me, I started remembering things I've done. Including attacking you. I... I never... never dreamed that you could forgive for that and... I know, you said you did but... I tried to hold on to that thought and... then you showed me what you've done. I thought... I thought you just burned your hand and were afraid of showing me. But that was the only lie you ever told me, wasn't it? You... you were just afraid of telling me how you truly feel. You were just as afraid as I was. But now... neither one of us should be afraid anymore. Ever again. Right?"

She had no way of knowing whether he heard any of these things, or not. All she could do, was hope. What she didn't know, is that he still had the white sphere in his pocket, which he used in his last battle.


	3. Chapter 3

In town, everything was quiet. It was, until six individuals decided to make their entrance. Five out of the six appeared like the Magirangers, except that their suits were without capes, and their colors were of a much darker hue than that of the Magirangers. Not to mention that their suits had a large letter Z engraved on their chests. The last one of the six, unlike the other five, was not so unfamiliar to anyone, as someone of the same appearance had appeared in the city on several occasions before, almost a year ago: Wolzard.

"Darkrangers. Attack them!" he commanded the five, who did as they were told.

What the Darkrangers did to the people, by use of magic, varied from one to the other. One of them threw chairs and tables to people, another made plants come to life and attacked them, yet another made them see their worst fears, another one chased them with fire, and the last one made all electrical things go haywire against people.

Wolzard saw all this, and whispered to himself: "This should draw them out."

At the Ozu-residence, Urara tried to consult her glass sphere, hoping to find some kind of answer. But in doing so, she saw something else.

"This is weird." she remarked.

"What is it, Urara-chan?" Houka asked her.

"My sphere is showing images of..." Urara wasn't sure of what she saw, "... soldiers with a skull-face standing over a field with dead people... a sheep with sharp teeth above hurt wolves... I don't know what this means."

"Sounds a lot like someone we'd least expect is causing pain." Tsubasa said.

"Who or what could that be?" Makito wondered.

"Maybe we should go out and look for clues." Hikaru suggested.

"I'd better stay here." Miyuki suggested, "For those two upstairs."

"Then that leaves just us." Isamu said.

"Alright!" Kai cheered, "We're doing something other than just sitting here!"

Together, the seven of them left.


	4. Chapter 4

When the Magirangers arrived in town, their surprise was great when they saw a band of people, similar to themselves, but nothing like them.

"Who are they?" Tsubasa wondered.

"Who cares?!" Kai exclaimed, "They're hurting people, we must..."

"I'd say you let them!" a voice interrupted.

This particular voice sounded familiar to everyone, but it couldn't be who they thought it is. They had to turn to see it for themselves, and as they feared, there stood Wolzard.

"Who are you?" Isamu was the one to show most courage in asking.

"I am you." Wolzard replied, "Or rather, who you want to be. As are these Darkrangers."

"You lie!" Makito shouted.

"We don't want to hurt these people!" Houka joined in.

"Don't you?" Wolzard questioned, "As a magician, you've sworn to keep your status a secret. And why?"

"Because people might not understand." Urara answered.

"That's only according to Sutokeru." Kai reminded her.

"No, that's the truth." Hikaru answered.

"And doesn't that make you angry?" Wolzard questioned, "To want to tell this to others, but not being able to? To be afraid of what they may say, or do? These Darkrangers are exactly that anger and that fear."

"Lies!" Houka reasoned, "Those are lies!"

"That's not what I saw." Wolzard said, after which he recited a spell.

Whatever the spell was, it brought everyone into what looked like a different dimension. There, they could see themselves, talking to other people, showing them what they can do. Some start calling them names, others burn them at the stakes, and the rest would have them abuse their powers.

"Remember Flueger?" Wolzard told them, "When he went inside your dreams, he picked all this up. You all claim that these thoughts never crossed your minds?"

This was something none of them could deny, still, Kai was courageous enough to shout: "Despite that, we'd still protect them!"

"Is that so?" Wolzard questioned.

"That's right." Tsubasa agreed, "Humanity may not always be smart to understand, but if we don't give them a chance..."

"Then what does that make us?" Houka completed his sentence.

"No better than the likes of you!" Urara added.

"And that makes them worth saving more than you!" Makito exclaimed.

"They sure know what they talk about." Hikaru remarked.

Wolzard didn't appear to expect this much of backtalk, but he didn't linger: "Very well."

Another spell was recited, and they all returned to their own dimension.

Once they returned, the Darkrangers were done terrorizing everyone else, and ready to fight the Magirangers.

"Sungel." Isamu turned to Hikaru, "You better go help everyone else. We'll handle these guys."

"Of course, Bragel." Hikaru agreed.

Everyone then used their henshin devices to transform into heroes.

"Mahou Henshin! Maagi Magi Magiro!" the five siblings cried.

"Tenkou Henshin!" the Heavenly Saints cried out, "Goolu Golu Goludiiro!"

With that, they changed. Immediately after changing, Magishine set out to help the people, whereas Wolzard Fire didn't hesitate to fight Wolzard. Meanwhile, the five siblings stood before their darker counterparts.

"The howling earth element! Magician of the Green! Magigreen!"

"The blowing wind element! Magician of the Pink! Magipink!"

"The shaking water element! Magician of the Blue! Magiblue!"

"The galloping thunder element! Magician of the Yellow! Magiyellow!"

"The burning flame element! Magician of the Red! Magired!"

Kai finished this with saying: "Changing overflowing courage into magic!"

All together: "Mahou Sentai! Magiranger!"


	5. Chapter 5

For obvious reasons, the Darkrangers were not intimidated by the the Magirangers' pose. As soon as they were finished, their fight started. Each one fought their respective colors, but neither one was strong enough to fight their darker versions. It didn't take long before they were all taken down.

Wolzard Fire had more luck with Wolzard, but not enough. At times, there was enough opening for one of them to start talking.

"Your children may not want to harm anyone." Wolzard hissed, "But what about you?"

"I'm no different from my kids!" Wolzard Fire persisted.

"So you say." Wolzard replied, "But remember, you were me, once."

At that point, Wolzard Fire started to hesitate on his last attack, which gave Wolzard enough opening for an attack, which striked him down.

"Remember?" Wolzard continued, "Every time you fought your own children. Every time you fought your comrades. Every time you wanted to destroy Magitopia."

"No... you're wrong!" Wolzard Fire persisted.

"Am I?" Wolzard was not convinced of that.

At that moment, some rays of light shot at every Darkranger, and Wolzard. While it took down the Darkrangers, Wolzard was the only one still standing afterwards.

"Need help?" Magishine sounded happy to join in with the fight.

"No, Sungel." Wolzard Fire got up again, "I'll deal with him myself!"

The Darkrangers were backed up, but still ready to fight.

"Thanks you, Hikaru-sensei." Magired said, "But we can take these guys ourselves."

His brothers and sisters agreed.

Meanwhile, as this fight is going on, Vancuria was floating over the remains of Zedd's lair. It was a somewhat macabre sight, but nothing that a vampire wouldn't enjoy. She landed, and split herself into Nai and Mae.

"This is so strange." Nai spoke.

"So strange." Mae repeated.

"That this whole castle was floating in the air..." Nai started.

"But we never saw it." Mae finished.

That's when Mae's foot hit something.

"What is this?" she wondered, as she bent down to pick it up.

"The dead always leave nice things behind." Nai remarked.

What Mae found was Zedd's sphere, but neither one of them knew what it held inside it.

When it was picked up, Sutokeru could feel it. Much like his earlier attempt at moving around caused the entire area to start shaking, this time he felt it shaking too. But he didn't do anything this time, so what's causing this?

"Blast it!" he could hear Zedd curse.

"Blast it?" Sutokeru laughed, "Garth was a lot more creative than you are when it comes to curses."

"I don't need to remind you that I'm not your friend!" Zedd responded.

"But you tried to be." Sutokeru kept laughing, "And you still fail miserably."

"Don't try and make me angry, Matt!" Zedd replied.

That's when things started to shake more heavily.

"What's going on?" Zedd wondered, "The fools aren't tossing it around, are they?!"

As Zedd feared, that was exactly what Nai and Mae were doing.

"This is fun." Nai remarked.

"Fun." Mae repeated.

Back inside the sphere, this gave Sutokeru some new hope, which showed on his face.

"Don't keep your hopes up." Zedd told him, "Aren't you afraid of what'll happen when this breaks, with you still inside it?"

"And with you still inside it as well." Sutokeru reminded him.

"Well then, how about I tell you who's the one tossing this around?" Zedd laughed.

Sutokeru didn't quite understand: "Meaning?"

"Those vampire friends of yours." Zedd told him, "They're too agile, to quick with their reflexes. They won't drop anything that easily. So you don't have to worry about them dropping this any time soon. If at all!"

This was followed by an evil laughter, at which Sutokeru didn't know what to say.


	6. Chapter 6

Miyuki, in the meantime, payed a visit to the couple in the upstairs room. She saw how Sutokeru, who hadn't moved an inch since he was laid down on this bed, and Ginny who allowed her head to rest on his belly. Miyuki smiled at the sight of this. That's when she noticed something glowing in Sutokeru's pocket. She came closer to see what it was. But just as she reached out her hand, something grabbed it. It was Ginny's. Angry, she said something in English, which Miyuki did not understand. She backed away then, but she still wonders about what that glow was. This did make Ginny curious enough to see for herself. Whatever it was, she took it out. It was the same sphere that he used before to help her. To Miyuki, however, it was the sphere that came from turning Kai's dragon into magic again.

All the while, the Magirangers were still fighting their darker counterparts. The Darkrangers were strong, but not strong enough to counter the siblings combined powers, especially with Magishine backing them up. It didn't take long until those five were defeated.

"We did it!" Magipink cheered.

"Don't cheer just yet." Magigreen reminded her, "Tou-san still got his hands full on... himself."

"That's not him, remember?" Magiblue reminded him.

As said, Wolzard Fire was still fighting Wolzard. Their swords clashed, their armors get damaged, but both their resolves were great enough to keep fighting.

"Still keep fighting." Wolzard sounded disappointed, "Very well. How do you fight this?"

Wolzard suddenly casted a spell, which called the remains of the Darkrangers to come to him. As those remains merged with him, he chanted another spell which turned him into a giant. One that resembled Wolkaiser, safe for some of the colors.

"How's this?!" the Wolkaiser-copy questioned.

Wolzard Fire merely grunted, as he suddenly spoke to his children: "So that's how you felt about me."

"What are you talking about?" Magired wondered.

He didn't answer, as he called upon Valkyrion and combined to form Wolkaiser Fire.

"I think he meant how we felt about him when he was Wolzard." Magiyellow answered Magired's question, "We thought he was ruthless and mean, while he did have some sense of honor."

"Something this one lacks." Magishine realized.

"So there's no way Tou-san can lose against him." Magipink sounded confident.

"Let's hope so." Magiyellow replied.

As this battle raged on, Nai and Mai were still playing with Zedd's sphere, which was something that could still be felt inside.

"So, aren't you getting tired of this, Garth?" Sutokeru suddenly started.

"I'm not Garth!" Zedd replied.

"Aren't you?" Sutokeru questioned, "It's his body that rose from the grave, it is his face you've used before to influence people. Even if you're not him, you sure are trying to be him."

Zedd started to boil up: "Don't even think..."

"So as I see it..." Sutokeru interrupted, "You want to be Garth. All I can do to help you, is start calling you by his name."

"I'm not him!" Zedd shouted, which appeared to change the surrounding mist into thunderclouds.

"You angry?" Sutokeru spoke, mockingly, "Let me help you, as that's what friends do, isn't it?"

"Stop it!" Zedd burst out this time.

Nai was holding the sphere at that time. When Zedd got his outburst, Nai felt electricity go through her hand. Although it couldn't hurt her, it came as such a surprise, it caused her to drop it. When it hit the floor, it broke into many pieces.

"Oops! What was that?" Nai was surprised.

"Was that?" Mae repeated, equally surprised.

This sudden event didn't go unnoticed in the Ozu-residence, as Sutokeru's sphere suddenly became brighter, and Sutokeru himself inhaled deeply. Ginny called out his name, happily, just before lights started to engulf him.


	7. Chapter 7

Wolkaiser Fire was still fighting Wolkaiser, when some kind of dark aura started to engulf the latter. What it was, nobody could guess, but it caused Wolkaiser to take a different form. It suddenly appeared to be more red in color, if not of a dark hue, with some metal accents, and it's face started to look familiar for everyone.

"Zedd..." Wolkaiser Fire whispered.

"Wha... Zedd's still alive?" Magired couldn't believe what he saw.

"It's like Bragel said." Magishine replied, "The only way for him to be dead, is when Sutokeru's dead."

"And he's not really dead, right?" Magiyellow reminded them.

"So if Tou-san kills him now..." Magipink thought out loud.

"He would die as well." Magiblue finished for her.

With this in mind, there wasn't much that Wolkaiser Fire could do against his new opponent, nor did it give the Magirangers any reason to become Magiking either, as that would only do more bad than good.

"We should still form Magiking." Magigreen said.

"You hate him so bad, you're willing to kill him?" Magipink was shocked to hear him suggest this.

"I would do anything to protect everyone I love." Magigreen interrupted, "And right now, Tou-san needs our help."

"He's right about that." Magiyellow agreed, "Even if we can't kill Zedd, the least we can do is help Tou-san."

That's when the giant Zedd had Wolkaiser in a pinch. He had him knocked down to the floor, and was about to use his sword to strike down, until something flew towards him, hit him hard enough to fall down, giving Wolkaiser Fire enough time to get up.

Everyone recognized the weapon that was used just then, and looked at the giant robot that threw it.

"Sutokeru?" Magired questioned.

"You're awake!" Magipink cheered.

Zedd got up, to face Hendenberg: "So you did return to your body."

"Don't even try to sound happy." Sutokeru, then Abyszard, called at him.

"Why not?" Zedd replied, "Now I can finally have the pleasure to kill you."

The two broke into another fight, this time more hand-to-hand, rather than with magic.

Wolkaiser Fire, meanwhile, tried to get up, but had become too weak to do anything. He decided to turn back to his human size, and join his kids.

"Are you all right, tou-san?" everyone asked.

"I'm fine." he told them, "But if he kills Zedd..."

"We know." Magiblue interrupted him, "But what can we do?"

"Maybe there's one thing we can do." Magishine started.


	8. Chapter 8

The fight between the two titans kept raging on. After some time, Hendenberg appeared to slow down. The only reason why that could be, is because it's pilot is slowing down.

This was something that Abyszard was painfully aware of: "I've been asleep for too long."

"Don't you see yet!?" Zedd started, "You're too weak to fight me. Give it up! Give up your magic and surren..."

He couldn't finish his sentence, because something appeared to be pulling at him. Zedd didn't know what it was, but even Abyszard, who saw it, didn't know it for certain. It looked as though something was turning Zedd's body into rays of light, that were being sucked into something else. It looked like an urn, which was held up by Magishine, along with Magiblue.

"What the..." Abyszard whispered.

Zedd could turn around to see for himself, and saw the urn that was pulling him away somehow: "You're not cramming me into that..."

Again, he couldn't finish his sentence, as he was suddenly completely sucked in.

Once he was gone, everyone sounded cheerful.

"We did it!" Magired cried, "We defeated Zedd!"

"This was easier than I thought it would be." Magigreen said.

"What's going on?" Abyszard suddenly joined them.

"We sealed Zedd away." Magipink replied.

"It's something Magitopia's been working on for some time." Magishine explained, "Before, we had sealed up N Ma, but still he managed to escape. So we've been working on something that would do the same, only this time it's something easier to keep."

"You idiots!" Abyszard told him, "How do you think a stupid urn can keep someone like Zedd in there?"

"Well, Magitopia has their ways of sealing things away forever." Smokey suddenly decided to join in, "A cat in a lamp's speaking."

"Oh, that's assuring." Abyszard replied.

"Well, you should thank us, coz the alternative would've been worse." Magipink reminded him.

"Houka-neesan, be quiet." Magiyellow told her.

"What alternative?" Abyszard asked her.

That's when everyone realized something they hadn't thought of before.

"He doesn't know?" Magiblue wondered.

"Know what?" Abyszard was still in the dark, "Something you folks know that I don't?"

Wolzard Fire finally decided he should come clean with him: "Let's return home, because what I have to tell you... well, you'll need to sit down."


	9. Chapter 9

Almost immediately upon returning home, Isamu told Sutokeru everything. About how he's Zedd's exact opposite, about how the one cannot exist without the other,... in short, how Zedd's death would cause his own demise.

Upon hearing all of it, Sutokeru appeared a little shocked, but recovered just as quickly: "So be it."

Everybody at once looked surprised when he said that.

"I'm sorry to have you... turn incapable of expressing yourself..." Sutokeru told them, in response to how they look, "... but if it's the only way of..."

"Didn't you hear what tou-san just told you?" Urara sounded particularly surprised.

"I did." Sutokeru replied, "And it doesn't matter. I already know what's happening when one dies..."

"Didn't you say you're afraid of that abyss?" Tsubasa could not understand.

"I guess I should start getting used to it." Sutokeru replied.

"What about Ginny?" Houka wondered, "Are you just gonna leave her like that?"

"Do you know what she's done while you were asleep?" Hikaru asked him, "She never left your side, not even to eat or sleep."

"Not to mention to use the bathroom." Kai said, with a disgusted tone to his voice.

Houka smacked him on the back of his head: "You idiot. Show some respect."

"But he's right." Makito had to admit, "What do you think she'd say if you're prepared to die to beat Zedd?"

"Look, our fight's been personal from the very beginning." Sutokeru replied, "It's only natural that this fight can only stop when both parties are dead."

"Well, then it's settled." Houka said, "I'd better get her here."

Sutokeru looked up: "Who?"

"Why, Ginny of course." Houka said, "Don't you want to spend some time with her before this ends?"

Sutokeru suddenly didn't know what to say, but Houka didn't care about that, as she left the room either way.

Upstairs she went, and found her mother, along with a girl, of whom Houka was sure she's never seen her before. But after a few seconds, she did recognize her.

"Ginny?" she said, "Is that you?"

Ginny recognized her name was said, but she couldn't understand what Houka asked her. Miyuki quickly said something to her, before turning to her daughter: "She's been spending too much time in that lair. Thought she needed a little touch-up work before meeting with Sutokeru again."

"I see." Houka agreed, "It may be best if you'd hurry, though, he..."

She couldn't finish her sentence, as there were cries, coming from downstairs.

"What was that?" Ginny sounded concerned, which was enough for everyone to guess what she was asking.

All three together, they ran to the secret room, where they found everyone knocked down, safe for Hikaru and Isamu, who were standing as though they were frozen.

"What's going on?" Miyuki asked them.

"Su... tokeru..." Isamu only just managed to talk, "He... does... his thing... on us... again..."

"He used them against us..." Kai added, "... took that urn with him and fled."

"What happened here?" Ginny didn't understand a word that was said, "Where's Matt?"

Somewhere far away from there, Sutokeru could be found, holding the urn that kept Zedd captive. He looked at it, with a sense of determination.

"This urn can't keep you there forever." Sutokeru said, "I know that, those Magitopians know it, and you know that. Let's settle this, right here, right now."

He placed the urn somewhere at a safe distance, after which he raised his Magi-phone, aimed, fired, subsequently breaking the urn and unleashing Zedd.

**THE END**

**... or not?**


End file.
